John,
The Arizona Supreme Court has delivered a ruling that propels women backward over 160 years into the past, enforcing a near-total ban on abortion and criminalizing abortion providers.
Yesterday’s regressive decision threatens the health, autonomy, and freedoms of women not just in Arizona but in surrounding states that have relied on Arizona’s previously more accessible services.
This shocking ruling returns women to control of a law written during the Civil War, not only ignores modern medical standards but echoes an age when women were considered the property of their husbands, couldn’t vote, and slavery was legal.
Why We Are Mobilizing:
With abortion likely to be on the ballot as an amendment to the state’s constitution, and with razor thin margins likely to decide the key U.S. and Presidential races, Vote for Equality, the political action arm of your Feminist Majority, today is launching the Arizona Emergency Mobilization.
Our aim is to make the winning difference on the November ballot with an unprecedented and massive Campus Mobilization initiative. This one will be even bigger and more sophisticated than our winning campus mobilizations that proved so instrumental in defeating the MAGA Republicans and electing a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in 2018, President Biden in 2020 , and re-electing Democratic Senator Mark Kelly 2022.
Our proven strategy will employ trained and motivated teams of Campus Organizers to alert, mobilize and then Get-Out-The-Vote of the 251,000 students in the University of Arizona system – of which 55% are women.
With the 2024 presidential election on the horizon, the importance of Arizona as a key battleground cannot be overstated. Our mission extends beyond defeating anti-abortion, election-denying candidates like Kari Lake and electing Democrat Reuben Gallego to the U.S. Senate and returning Joe Biden to the White House. It encompasses the essential effort to help enshrine abortion rights within the Arizona State Constitution through a forthcoming ballot measure this November.
Expanding Our Campus Organizer Program:
In response to this urgent need, our Vote for Equality is intensifying its efforts to recruit, train, and mobilize the largest team of Campus Organizers ever assembled in the state. These organizers are crucial in:
Educating Voters: Providing crucial information on abortion rights and women's rights, motivating them to turn their fear and anger into decisive action at the ballot box.
Navigating Voter Suppression: Countering right-wing attempts to suppress the college vote by ensuring colleges and universities assist students in voting, in compliance with Federal laws.
Training on Election Rules: Equipping Campus Organizers with the knowledge of state-specific election rules and effective mobilization strategies.
Providing Resources: Offering fact sheets, visible Campus Organizer signs, and access to a hotline with election experts and attorneys ready to challenge any attempts at voter suppression.
Our Campus Organizers are the frontline warriors against the MAGA Republican assault on women's rights. Each Organizer has the potential to influence hundreds, if not thousands, of voters—making a significant impact on the outcome of the 2024 election.
The Urgency Cannot Be Overstated:
The reinstatement of the Civil War-era abortion law in Arizona is a grim reminder of the lengths to which extremist Republicans will go to strip women of their rights. It is imperative that we act now to mobilize a strong, informed, and engaged electorate ready to defend reproductive rights and democracy.
Join the Emergency Mobilization:
We urge every supporter of the Feminist Majority to do your part, whatever you can to help us quickly raise the funds required for the Arizona Emergency Mobilization and our other critical 2024 efforts.
Your support will enable us to recruit and train a record-breaking and formidable force of Campus Organizers for the Arizona Emergency Mobilization, equip them with the resources they need, and ensure a record turnout of voters who stand for reproductive freedom, women's rights, personal freedom and democracy.
This battle is not just about protecting access to abortion; it's about safeguarding our freedoms against a tide of dark, regressive MAGA Republican policies.
Please let me hear from you today. Your support - right now - as we launch this mobilization is critical.
Together, we can turn the tide and continue the fight for equality and justice.
Onward For Victory and Equality,
Eleanor Smeal, President
The Feminist Majority
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